I'm Speed Dating...On A Jet Plane - Can You Find Love In The Air?

Romance in the skies is fraught with peril – you already know the food is going to be inedible, and if you don’t have sparks with your seat mate, you’re pretty much stuck for the ride. But, in an attempt to conjure up love out of thin air (and at certain altitudes, very thin air), KLM started their ‘meet and seat’ which meant passengers could look up on Facebook and LinkedIn and pick who they were going to sit next to – like an up in the air blind date. Last year, Jet2 ran a 'love is in the air' event where they flew 100 singletons to Paris for a marathon date.

The latest airborne matchmaking attempt comes by way of the ‘world’s highest speed date’ organised by Expedia and dating site Doing Something, which surely is ambitious considering the whole attraction of speed dating is that you can slink off if you end up in a room of undesirables.

The event, featuring 60 singletons, took place at 35,000 feet in the air, and departed from Luton airport (why are you laughing - surely that's where everyone would like to start their first date?) to Venice (that’s more like it).

While talking to participant Eleanor Berg, 28, Information Rights Advisor from London, she said that having travel in common helped break the ice. “I met a few people and we’re thinking of having a little reunion. I’ve never done speed dating before and it’s something that’s exciting and that I can take away for future dates and share with other people.”

Expedia’s research also found that travel is key to attracting the perfect partner; so much so that one in ten people are prepared to lie about the places they have been to impress Mr or Mrs Right. This may be because a quarter of us admit to being turned off someone due to the lack of travel experience. A fifth of us cited this as the biggest turn off when looking at online dating profiles and a third of Brits being positively attracted to someone based on their travels.

The experience was coined a ‘holidate’ and Expedia are thinking of running further events in the future.

Would you give it a go?

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How Do People In Your Area Get Ready For A Date?

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Londoners are twice as likely to hit the gym before a date, 69% more likely to research a date online, and 85% more likely to listen a motivational song

Twice as likely to get their teeth whitened, but also 5% more likely to skip taking a pre-date shower (almost 1 in 5 don't)

Britain's most hygienic daters - 90% shower before they head out and 13% of women will call a friend for a pep talk before a date

Twice as likely to go for a wax in preparation for a date and 15% say that they prepare conversation topics in advance of a date

95% more likely to go for a sunbed or apply fake tan ahead of a date, 8% say that they do no preparation at all (higher than anywhere else), and just 72% of men will shave before a date, the lowest in the UK

40% more likely to have a swift drink before a first date and over 90% more likely to get their hair done. Plus, half of all Geordie girls will get a haircut, 38% would go out without shaving their legs (the highest in the UK) while men are twice as likely to go for a spray tan or sunbed than women

More than 20% opt for a tipple before a date to calm their nerves (second only to Geordies). Welsh women are 12% more likely to shave their legs, and men are most likely to get their hair done

Yorkshire daters are 65% more likely to don an item of lucky clothing, such as lucky underwear, 10% of women say that it takes them between 2 and 3 hours to get ready. Almost half the Yorkshiremen (46%) said they spruced up in under half an hour

57% in the South East will try to arrange a second date when still on a first date if they like the person. Almost a quarter (23%) of females opt for a drop of Dutch courage

Scottish lasses spend an average of 59 minutes each preparing. Scots are less likely than any other region to go to the gym before a big date

64% of women in the East take more than 45 minutes ensuring they look their best for their date. And those in the East are second only to the North West in their love of a pre-date tan